The Dark Hour
by The Lone Wanderer
Summary: Cloud is a new student at Midgar High School. His life seems normal, but when he realizes he is a "summoner" he must join a group of students to prevent the world from falling into darkness.


Well, here's a new story. It's heavily inspired by Persona 3.

I'm also working on one inspired by Deus Ex, but I don't have much yet. Hopefully chapter 1 this weekend.

Review if you like it!

(I don't own FFVII)

Also, formatting may be off a little. I'll check once it's uploaded and then if it is I'll do my best to fix it.

Enjoy!

"We are now arriving at Platform 3 of Sector 1 Station. Please gather your surroundings and prepare to exit the train."

Cloud stirred slightly, then groggily opened his eyes. He was finally here. He rolled his neck as he stood up, wincing as he heard it crack. It had been a while since he had been able to stand up and move around. He reached over and grabbed his messenger bag, shouldering it. It was fairly heavy - it carried all his belongings, but it was manageable.

Cloud was the last one to exit the train, and the station was surprisingly empty, despite the train being almost full of people. _Well, this is odd_, Cloud thought to himself as he looked around - the station was littered with coffins that were slightly taller than him. He shrugged though, too tired to really care, and cranked up the music on his MP3 player to keep him awake until he made it to his new dorm.

Several small creatures skittered between the coffins watching Cloud with predatory glances, but the spiky-haired teen was ignorant to their presence. He merely bobbed his head to his music as he exited the station, walking towards what would be his new home.

When Cloud entered the dorm assigned to him on his little admissions paper, he was surprised to find it empty too, except for a girl sitting down, reading. She was sitting on a crimson leather couch, with two chairs placed next to it. A small coffee table was placed in the center of the arrangement, and a television set sat in a corner of the room. A small kitchen area was in the back corner of the common room, and a large dining table was next to it, with eight chairs surrounding it. It was a homely common room, and Cloud liked it. It was simple, but it seemed nice at the same time.

Cloud gave the girl a quick once over; she was very attractive. Long chocolate brown hair fell over her porcelain skin, and he could just make out her wine-colored eyes. She was wearing a black pleated skirt and a black jacket, which he assumed was her school uniform.

Cloud shifted his bag to his other shoulder as he pulled off his headphones. "Um . . . hi," he said awkwardly, trying to get her attention.

The girl looked up instantly, and her eyes widened when she saw him. "Uh . . . w-what are you doing here?" she stammered.

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "I'm the new student at Midgar High."

"Oh! Right, you were scheduled to arrive today," the girl muttered, mostly to herself. She set her book down and stood up, walking over to Cloud, her thumb in her mouth as she chewed on her nail. "Did you by any chance notice anything strange while walking over here?" she asked.

"I don't think so . . ." Cloud said, trailing off. _She's a little . . . off_.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

Cloud nodded slowly. "Except for boxes. There's a lot of boxes in Midgar. Any particular reason for that?"

The girl shook her head quickly. "Don't worry about that. I'll have Mr. Tuesti, our dorm advisor, explain it tomorrow, once I talk to him."

"Right. Anyway, I'm Cloud." Cloud said, sticking his hand out.

"Tifa," she said, smiling as she shook his hand. "You must be tired. Let me show you to your room. It's on the third floor."

With that, Tifa led Cloud up two flights of stairs to the third floor, and led him down the hallway to a doorway at the very end. As she opened the door, she turned back to him apologetically. "It's a little bare, but it's only supposed to be a temporary room until your final dorm assignment goes through, so I'm sure you can manage. Do you need anything else?" she asked.

"I think I'm good," Cloud replied. "Thanks, Tifa. I appreciate the help."

Tifa gave him a shy smile before exiting the room and closing the door. Cloud surveyed the room, realizing Tifa was right; it _was_bare. A

Left to his own devices, Cloud realized how tired he really was. His eyes were drooping, his muscles were fatigued, everything about him just wanted to collapse. He let his bag slide off his shoulder and onto the floor before falling onto the bed. Cloud was out as soon as his head hit the pillow, falling into a dreamless sleep.

Cloud woke the next morning to an urgent knocking at his door.

"Cloud!" a voice called. Cloud recognized it as Tifa's. He groggily rolled over and raised his head, rubbing his eyes as he replied.

"Yeah?"

"Wake up! I know you must be tired still, but don't forget that you have to go to school today!"

Cloud groaned before sitting up, running a hand through his unruly hair. "School?"

He heard a giggle before Tifa spoke again. "Yes, Cloud, school. Your uniform is hanging up in the closet, I put it there before you arrived. Make sure you wear it! You have ten minutes, mister, so hurry!"

"I'll be right out," Cloud responded. He groaned once more as he clambered out of bed, almost falling over due to his exhaustion. He rolled his neck and sighed as he heard it crack satisfyingly.

_Why am I so tired?_He asked himself as he stripped down to put on his school uniform. It was surprisingly decent looking, Cloud thought as he put it on. Dress shirt, black tie, blue sweater vest, and a black jacket with matching black trousers. It all felt a little . . . starchy to Cloud, but he figured it would disappear once the clothes were broken in.

He opened the door to the hall and almost ran straight into Tifa, who gave a quick once over. "You wear that uniform surprisingly well," she said.

Cloud looked away awkwardly. "Uh, you too." When he looked back at her, he blushed when he saw what her school uniform actually was. A short black skirt, calf-high black socks, a white blouse, and a blue sweater vest that matched Clouds. At least he was honest. She _did_wear it well.

"Well, let's get going. The school is across the river and we have to take the train to get there,"

"Are there any other people living in that dorm?" Cloud asked while he and Tifa were waiting for the train to cross the river. Cloud stood, his hand on the railing, while Tifa sat in a seat next to him. The train was full of both business people heading to their jobs, and students also heading to Midgar High. Cloud had also noticed the lack of cardboard boxes, but he didn't say anything.

"There's one more. A senior. But that's it. Our dorm is . . . kind of unique, to say the least."

"How so?"

Cloud watched as Tifa chewed the inside of her cheek. She was nervous about something, and didn't want to say what while in front of people, Cloud could tell that much.

"Forget I asked," Cloud said before sliding on one of his headphones to listen to his music.

"No! Wait," Tifa said quickly. "It's just . . . complicated. I'll explain later, I promise." She looked up and smiled at Cloud, who, before he knew it, found himself smiling back.

"I'll hold you to that."

When Cloud arrived at Midgar High, he couldn't help but marvel at it. It was _huge_. It was much larger than the school in Nibelheim, and judging by the outside, it seemed to be much nicer as well.

"Well, this is it," Tifa said, grinning at Cloud.

"It's huge," Cloud breathed, unable to take his eyes off of it. Something came over him as he was staring at the school . . . something ominous, and now he couldn't look away.

"That's what she said," a smarmy voice from behind Cloud and Tifa said.

Tifa groaned, apparently knowing who the voice belonged to. "Go away, Reno," she said.

Cloud turned to see a teenage boy with long, fiery red hair approach the two of them. His hair fell around his face in a shag, but also had a fair share of it pulled back in a ponytail. He seemingly didn't care for the school dress code, only wearing the shirt, unbuttoned slightly, and the jacket, along with the pants, completely forgoing the sweater vest and tie. Cloud also noticed how skinny he was, about the same weight as Cloud.

Reno raised his hands defensively, smirking. "Hey, hey, hey, Teef, don't be so harsh. I just wanna meet the new kid." Reno gave Cloud a once over and grinned, "Someone's following the dress code to a tee."

Cloud noticed Tifa roll her eyes. "Because some of us actually _care_ about school, Reno, unlike you."

Reno stuck his tongue out at Tifa before sticking his hand out towards Cloud. "The name's Reno Hakamura. Nice to meet ya."

Cloud glanced at Tifa, seeing if she approved or not. She was giving Reno a pointed look, but Cloud shook his hand anyway. Reno's handshake was surprisingly strong, yet loose, for a guy his size, but then again, Cloud knew from himself that looks could be deceiving.

Tifa checked her watch and then jumped. "Oh, crap! I'm going to be late for class. Reno, I'm pretty sure Cloud is in your homeroom class. Would you mind taking him?"

Reno groaned. "You mean I _actually_have to go to class? Fine. New kid, come with me."

"The name's Cloud. Cloud Strife," Cloud said as Reno slung his arm around him, leading Cloud into the school and away from Tifa.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, newbie. We're gonna have some _fun_. Coming to school with Tifa Lockhart, the most popular girl in school? Oh yes, we're gonna have _fun_ all right."

The halls of Midgar High were crowded, but Reno led Cloud through the crowd expertly, deftly weaving in and out of groups of students, the entire time talking to Cloud, who was only half paying attention.

"Now, our homeroom teacher, Cid Highwind, is kind of a dick. But he's hilarious at the same time, so you know, trade-off. Just beware, although he swears all the freaking time, don't you dare mouth off in his class . . . I learned that the hard way. Also, never. Touch. His. Tea. Learned that the hard way, too. Highwind and I . . . aren't on the best of terms to put it nicely."

As soon as Reno opened the door to Mr. Highwind's classroom, Cloud understood what the lanky teen meant.

"Well look who's late again, class. Fuckin' Reno Hakamura."

Reno rolled his eyes, "Yeah, sorry Highwind. 'Least I got a good excuse, yo. This guy," Reno pointed his thumb over his shoulder at Cloud, "Is the newbie. Tifa asked me to show him here."

Cid crossed his arms, eyeing both Reno and Cloud. "Goddamnit, fine. Sit yer ass down, Hakamura."

Cloud made a move to follow Reno the the back of the class, but Cid stopped him. "Eh, eh, eh, eh. You wait right there. Name?"

"Strife. Cloud Strife."

"Right. Well, don't let Hakamura rub off on you. Kid's a trouble-maker. Tifa, on the other hand, she could give you some good habits. Good student, she is." Cid grabbed a mug sitting on his table and took a sip. "But Reno? Bad idea, kid."

Reno attempted to speak up, but Cid pointed a finger at him. "Shut it, Reno." Reno slumped forward onto his desk, letting his head rest on the wood. He had obviously given up.

"Sit in the third row, you see that open seat? You don't need any more exposure to Reno than you already get."

"Yes sir," Cloud said quietly before heading to seat and sitting down.

Cid let out a hearty laugh once Cloud was seated with a pencil out. "You seem like a good kid. All righty, class, let's get started!"

As soon as the bell rang Cloud stood up and walked to the door, waiting right outside for Reno. The class hadn't been bad by any means, and Cloud wasn't one to necessarily rush out of class at the end of the day, but he figured Reno would be and didn't want his only tour guide to the school be gone before Cloud get reach him.

"Cid seems nice," Cloud said as Reno exited the classroom.

Reno stopped in his tracks and raised an eyebrow at the blonde. "You fuckin' kidding me, man?" A smirk from Cloud confirmed Reno's suspicions, causing the red-head to let out a chuckle. "I guess he ain't so bad, to be honest. He's just out to get me. Now come on, lemme show you out of here so you can get back to your dorm. Bet you're all tuckered out from your first day at school, eh?"

"Tuckered out?" Now it was Cloud's turn to raise an eyebrow. Reno stuck his tongue out in response.

"I say what I want, yo. Now let's go."

Directly outside the school gate's was where Reno and Cloud ran into a group of girls.

"Did he leave yet?" One of them asked.

"I'm not sure, I hope not!" Another replied.

Seeing Cloud's questioning look, Reno spoke up. "That's Zack Fair's . . . fan club, I guess you could say. They're in love with him. Not quite sure why, guy seems nice enough, but a fan club? I thought that shit was only in the movies."

"Zack Fair?" Cloud asked.

"Captain of the boxing team here, and for good reason. He's crazy good, yo. Senior, so a year older than us."

"Ah," was all Cloud said in response.

Soon enough, a tall teen came out of the gates, and Cloud managed to get a good look at who this "Zack Fair" was. The guy had spiky black hair, almost but not quite has unruly as Cloud's, with bangs that framed his face, accentuating his piercing violet eyes. He wore a variation of the uniform Cloud was wearing – the blue sweater vest with a slightly loosened tie underneath and a couple buttons unbuttoned. He didn't wear the uniform jacket, and so far, he was the only student Cloud had seen without it.

Zack was tall, too. Easily seeing above the throng of girls that surrounded him. He was saying something to the ladies, but he was too far away for Cloud to make out what he was saying. Once Zack spotted Cloud, he pushed his way past the girls and strode over to where Cloud and Reno were standing.

"Cloud Strife, right?" he asked, sticking his hand out to be shaken.

"Uh . . . yeah," Cloud said tentatively, shaking Zack's hand. Zack had a firm grip, much more professional than Reno's, which Cloud wasn't surprised to notice.

"Tifa told me about you, I live in the same dorm as you too. It's nice to meet ya!"

"You live in the same dorm as juniors?" Reno spat out, shocked.

Zack chuckled before retracted his hand from Cloud's grip, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, kind of a special case."

"That's what Tifa said last night," Cloud mentioned.

"Ah, she did, did she? Did she say why it was special?" He asked. Cloud shook his head. "Good. It's a little . . . odd, so we'll explain it together to you tonight. You know how to get back to the dorm?"

Cloud shook his head again. "Wasn't really paying attention this morning when Tifa brought me to school."

Zack laughed again. "Sounds like me. All right, well I'll show you the way, but you better pay attention this time! Reno, I apologize, but we must be off. Urgent dorm matters, to attend to, ya know?"

Reno cocked an eyebrow at Zack, but didn't really say anything other than, "Right. Well, I'll see ya tomorrow Cloud. If I decide to come to school, ya know."

"Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow."

With that, Zack wrapped one of his arms around Cloud's shoulders and turned him away from Reno, the group of girls, and the school, and began to lead him away. As he did so, he asked a question that would change Cloud's life forever.

"So, Spike. You ever heard of the Dark Hour?"

So that's that. I hope you guys liked it!


End file.
